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Threads of the Dead: An Investment in Appearance in Ancient Central Asia ©

By Katharine Longfellow

Spring 2013

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Table of Contents

List of Illustrations 3

Threads of the Dead: An Investment in Appearance 5 Table 1: List of Tombs 56 Images 57 Illustrations: Maps & Tombs 60 Bibliography 64

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List of Images Image 1: Cherchen Man Located in Barber, 1995, Plate 1. Image 2: Cherchen Woman Located in Wang, 83. Image 3: Cherchen Man’s Hands Located in Wang, 80. Image 4: Cherchen Woman’s Hands Located in Wang, 83. Image 5: Decomposed Cherchen Woman 1 Located in Barber, 1995. Image 6: Decomposed Cherchen Woman 2 Located in Mallory and Mair, Plate III. Image 7: Old Cherchen Woman’s Hand Located in Mallory and Mair, Plate VIII Image 8: Old Cherchen Woman Located in Wang, 85. Image 9: Infant in Tomb A-2 Located in Barber, 1995, Plate 5A Image 10: Cherchen Hat Located in Wang, 87. Image 11: Cherchen Banded Textile Located in Barber, 1995, 6A. Image 12: Cherchen Chemise Located in Barber, 1995, 7A. Image 13: Subeshi Woman Located in Mallory and Mair, Plate VI. Image 14: Subeshi Woman with Witch Hat Located in Wang, 103. Image 15: Subeshi Saddle Located in Wang, 107.

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Image 16: Subeshi Man with Leather Talisman Located in Wang, 105.

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Threads of the Dead: An Investment in Appearance in Ancient Central Asia

The Cherchen Cemetery outside the village of Zaghunluq is located on a tableland

north of the Cherchen River in the Tarim Basin, approximately six kilometers southwest

of Cherchen City (Illustration I).1 The cemetery space covers about 800,000 square

meters, running 1,100 meters from north to south and 750 meters east to west with an

elevation of approximately 1,270 meters.2 The area of Cherchen is also known as Qiemo

and is found in the Taklamakan Desert in the Xinjiang Region of China.3 The Cherchen

Cemetery contains hundreds of graves dating from approximately 1000 BCE to the early

centuries AD, although the exact number is difficult to ascertain because of frequent

damage by local salt diggers and tomb raiders.4 The town of Cherchen, where the

cemetery is located, was quite close to what would become the southern passage of the

Silk Trade Route, exposing it to countless travelers and foreign goods.

I. GEOGRAPHICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING:

During the glacial period, the entire Tarim Basin was filled with a large sea,

similar in size to the Mediterranean today. Gradually the sea shrank into a large lake in

the northeast area of the Tarim Basin, known as Lop-nor, leaving behind a high

1BinghuaWang,TheAncientCorpsesofXinjiang:ThePeoplesofAncientXinjiangandtheirCulture.(China:CIP,1999)79.2H.E.Dexiu,“ABriefReportontheMummiesfromtheZaghunluqSiteinCharchanCounty”inTheBronzeAgeandEarlyIronAgePeoplesofEasternCentralAsia.VictorMair,ed.(Philadelphia:TheUniversityofPennsylvaniaandMuseumPublications,1998)169.3CherchenmayalsobespelledCharchanorChärchänbutforthepurposesofthisstudyitwillbespelledasCherchen.4J.PMallory,andVictorH.Mair,TheTarimMummies:AncientChinaandtheMysteryoftheEarliestPeoplesfromtheWest.(NewYork,NY:Thames&Hudson,2000)189.

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concentration of salt in the soil.5 Originally the Tarim River fed the Lop-nor Lake,

creating an environment of marshlands filled with reeds, rushes, poplars and tamarisks,

which are often found in the graves in the Cherchen cemetery.6 Lop-nor was so shallow

that a strong storm or change in current of the Tarim Basin could completely shift the

location of the lake and move it from its southern location up into its northern basin. The

lake moved from south to north during the 4th century BCE, causing the nearby town of

Loulan to go into a severe draught and to be left as a ruin, which was eventually found in

the 20th century by Sven Hedin and Sir Aurel Stein. Judging from the amount of reeds

and plant life found in the tombs of the Cherchen graves, it would appear that the area

had more access to water during the time of the burials.

The Tarim Basin no longer resembles the wetlands that were present during the

time of the Cherchen people and has now been completely taken over by the Taklamakan

Desert. The Taklamakan is an extremely harsh region with an average of 5% humidity

and only receives about 35 mm of rain a year.7 The combination of the low groundwater

levels and high amounts of salt left over from the sea make it nearly impossible for

bacteria to grow, which aids the preservation of bodies and organic materials found in the

tombs of the Cherchen Cemetery. The best-preserved corpses are thought to have died

around midsummer so that their bodies dried out quickly and then were essentially

freeze-dried by the frigid winter temperatures. Furthermore, most of the graves found in

the area are relatively shallow, allowing the bodies to remain well aerated.8

5Sven Hedin, Across the Gobi Desert. (New York City: Greenwood Press Publishers, 1968) 376.6Hedin,369.7MalloryandMair,177.8Dexiu,170‐4.

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II. EARLY ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS:

From the combination of extreme temperatures, low moisture and high salinity in

the Taklamakan, the area now contains a large amount of preserved, ancient burial sites

that have long attracted archaeologists. The Taklamakan later became a part of the Silk

Trade Route, encompassing many different kinds of people and trade items that have

remained in the region, making the area a treasure trove for explorers. The Swedish

explorer and archaeologist, Sven Hedin first traveled into the region in 1900 and

discovered the remains of the Loulan village.9 In the ruins, Hedin was able to find an old

house with several manuscripts written on wood and paper that indicated the town was

still thriving around 260 AD.10 Marc Aurel Stein followed Hedin’s exploration in 1906

and 1914 and relocated Loulan with the help of Hedin’s maps.11

Throughout both Hedin and Stein’s expeditions, they discovered several

preserved bodies, whose tombs and cadavers seem to follow similar burial traditions.

Each body was contained in a bottomless coffin made out of two, hollowed out poplar

trunks with a short board along each side. Seven short boards lay across the top and there

were several cowhides stretched across the coffin. The bodies within the coffins wore felt

caps with big feathers and thick, woolen garments. The racial type of people found in

these coffins did not seem to be Mongoloid but appeared to be what Stein referred to as

“Homo Alpinus” or similar to what is identified as the Caucasoid racial group, including

light-colored hair, long noses, and elongated skulls.12 13 Stein found additional groups of

9ElizabethBarber,TheMummiesofUrumchi.NewYork:W.W.Norton,1999,92.10Hedin,363.11Barber,92.12Barber,94,andC.PThorntonandT.G.Schurr,“Prehistoric‘Europeans’inXinjiang?ACaseforMultipleInterpretations,”inTheInterplayofPast&Present:

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Caucasoid graves spanning a long time period beginning around 1,000 BCE until the time

of the Chinese occupation around 100 BCE.

Another Swedish explorer, Folke Bergman, followed in the steps of Stein and

Hedin in 1934 and also explored the route through the Taklamakan Desert. He found

another cemetery about forty kilometers from the main course of the river, where a group

of wooden posts sticking out to of the ground had been painted with red ochre. Much like

the graves found by Stein, the bodies in the cemetery were contained in coffins made out

of heavy curved boards, rather than tree trunks, with no bottom and covered with ox

hides. The bodies were all fully dressed with headdresses, mantles, loincloths and shoes

or moccasins.14 Bergman reexamined a grave earlier discovered by Hedin of an old

woman wearing a dark brown mantle with yellow and red piping along the borders of the

garment. She wore a felted wool cap with a yellow exterior lining and red cords with the

split skin of an ermine adorning the top.15 She also had a small bundle of wool wrapped

in a piece of red felt.

The Caucasoid people found by Stein and Hedin demonstrate many of the same

characteristics as the bodies recently excavated from the Cherchen Cemetery. The

Cherchen people also created textiles with colored piping, felted hats with decorative

touches and incorporated red wool on to their bodies and other burial goods. It would

appear that not only the people found in Cherchen, but the Caucasoid people found

PapersfromtheSessionoftheannualEAAmeetinginSt.Petersburg,2003.EditorA.Bolin.SödertörnUniversityCollege:2004.14Barber,102‐103.15Barber,105.

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throughout the Tarim Basin had developed their own specific culture, in which textiles

played an important role.

III. CONTEMPORARY EXCAVATIONS AT THE CHERCHEN CEMETERY:

One tomb in particular that contained multiple, well preserved and well-dressed

bodies can be found in Tomb A (Illustration II), which will form the focus of this study.16

Tomb A was excavated in 1985 by a team of excavators lead by Dolkun Kamberi.17 The

mouth of the tomb is 5.35 meters long by 3 meters wide and 2.4 meters at its deepest.18

The tomb was structured in several layers, with the first layer being about 50 centimeters

of sandy soil. The next level was composed of 30 centimeters of scattered reeds that

contained a sheep’s head and two drinking cups made from cows’ horns. 1.75 meters

southwest from the main burial chamber at this level was the skull and foreleg of a horse,

from which the bones and flesh had been removed and replaced with reeds. In the layer

beneath the scattered reeds of the burial chamber, there was an opening into the lower

section of the tomb covered by a white felt blanket and a large, brown robe made of wool

beneath the blanket. Placed on top of the two textiles was a leather saddle and a round

bottomed, black pottery jar.19

Beneath the two textiles were two reed mats measuring 3.8 x 2.4 meters, which

were immediately followed by two buffalo skins and a horse skin. Under this section

were another two layers of mats made from woven willow branches covering twenty-five

16SeeTable1inAppendix.Alltitlesoftombsarearbitrarylabelscreatedforthepurposeofthispaperandtheirofficialtitles,locationsandcontentscanbelocatedinthetable.17DolkunKamberi,“TheThreeThousandYearOldCharcharnManPreservedatZaghunluq:AbstractAccountofaTombExcavationinCharchancountyofUyghuristan.”Sino­PlatonicPapers.44,1994,1‐7.18Kamberi,5.19Kamberi,5.

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tree limbs laid across the step rim of the tomb-chamber, making a square pit measuring

0.75 meters in both width and height.20 The layer of tree limbs comprised the roof of an

unfilled tomb chamber below, which contained the bodies of three females and one male.

All four occupants were lying on their backs on willow mats that made up the floor of the

tomb, and wearing maroon robes, felt stockings and white leather boots that extend above

their knees. Beneath the bodies, a 2.6 x 0.6 x 0.3 meter gutter had been dug with fourteen

small tree limbs in between the gutter and the mat to create air circulation around the

corpses and probably to separate them from moisture in the soil.21

In the center of the tomb was the male body (“Cherchen Man” Image 1),

positioned with his feet towards the two, slightly decayed women (Images 5 & 6) and

another woman remaining in good condition lying perpendicular to his head (“Cherchen

Woman” Image 2).22 The male appears to be of Caucasoid descent with a prominent

nose, wide eyes, and was approximately 2 meters tall while living. His body was

carefully propped up by a small piece of wood on his right side with his legs bent and

arms placed with the right hand above the left. The man had long, yellow-brown hair

plaited into two 30 centimeters braids and a neatly trimmed beard.23 In the bottom of half

of his braids, pieces of red yarn had been woven into his hair and more red yarn passed

through each of his earlobes. 24 Red wool was used again in a woven strap tied tightly

around the man’s head and jaw in an effort to keep the jaw shut while the tongue swelled

during decomposition. Wool was an apt fiber to use for such a tool because it is one of

20Kamberi,5.21Kamberi,5‐6.22Barber,44.23Kamberi,6.24Barber,24.

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the few materials used in weaving that can stretch 25-30% of its own length, allowing for

the body to swell and then decrease without breaking. Even with the capacity to stretch,

the band on the Cherchen Man was tied so tightly that it created an indentation in the

back of his skull.25 Clearly the people who buried this man were well aware of the

physical changes that take place during decomposition and were actively interested in

maintaining the body’s original appearance.

Along his temples, there is bright yellow, ochre face paint in a swirl design with

rays extending out of the spiral, which spread across his cheek over the bridge of his

nose. 26 The face paint must also have been applied post mortem because there are visible

wrinkle lines in the paint, which have crinkled in the lines around his eyes. Such lines

would have been created when the paint was still damp and the flesh bloated during

decomposition and then later resettled back in its former shape. Two spoons with traces

of ochre were found in the tomb, further indicating that the face paint was specifically

connected to the funeral purposes.27 In addition to the face paint, an unidentified form of

animal protein was found smeared over the Cherchen Man and the Cherchen Woman,

which possibly served as an anti-bacterial agent. Fish paste was often used in Peru to help

preserve bodies, yet other Mongoloid groups from the same region have no record of

using any type of mummifying agent in their funerary practices, which could indicated

that it may have been a tradition unique to their culture.28 The Cherchen people who

buried these bodies were evidently familiar with the natural processes involved in death

and spent a significant amount of time performing these funerary rituals. The rites and

25Barber,28.26Barber,24.27MalloryandMair,192.28MalloryandMair,177.

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practices concerning burial traditions must have been important to their society in order

for them to willingly spend so much time and effort on the elements so far discussed.

The Cherchen Woman positioned perpendicular to the Cherchen Man at the top of

the tomb also remained in good condition (Image 2). Similar to the other bodies in the

tomb, she was on her back with her legs bent and her arms positioned with the right over

the left on her chest. Her hair was woven into four braids, two of which were made out of

her own hair and the other two being 45 centimeter long lengths of additional human hair

with red wool added to the ends of the braids. Similar to the Cherchen Man, she also had

red wool inserted through her earlobes. The Cherchen Woman also had a dark red woolen

strap tied around her jaw identical to the band found on the Cherchen Man, although her

strap was not tied so tightly and her jaw was forced wide open by the swelling of her

tongue.29 Painted across the bridge of her nose are yellow spirals made of ochre as well

as a red triangle with another yellow spiral inside.30

The two other women (Image 5 & 6) found in Tomb A were positioned at the feet

of the Cherchen Man, lying parallel to him with their heads towards his feet and their feet

positioned near the wall. Both women were in partial states of decay and had

decomposed significantly more than either the Cherchen Man or Cherchen Woman and

were unable to be studied as thoroughly. Nevertheless, both women had been placed in a

similar manner to the other occupants in the tomb, lying on their backs with their knees

bent and their arms on their chest with dark red straps tied around their heads to keep

their jaws shut.31

29Barber,47.30Barber,47‐8.31Barber,47‐8.

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There was an assortment of other goods included in the burial, such as several

pieces of black pottery, all of the same shape and color. One piece of black pottery was

found with the white felt blanket and the brown overcoat in the upper layers of the tomb.

Just as the Cherchen Man and Woman used red wool on their bodies, so did several of the

grave items. Such items include reed bundles bound in red wool yarn and suspended from

a forked branch stuck into the floor of the tomb as well as a bundle of red yarn. There

were also some bone and wood objects, such as combs, drinking cups, a wooden milking

pail, some long needles, a spindle with spirals carved into it, and a horn hook used to hold

up clothing.32

Near the horse head and the foreleg buried outside of Tomb A, was another small

grave known as Tomb A-2, added shortly after the main tomb was completed. Within

Tomb A-2 was a small infant, no more than three months old, just above the level of the

adult’s main tomb (Image 9). The baby’s tomb was structured similarly to Tomb A with a

layer of reed mats above the body and then a smooth curved slab of wood. About two feet

away from the baby’s tomb was a sheep’s head buried in another grave.33 The baby was

positioned on a blanket of white felt with a small pillow under his head and tiny tufts of

orange wool in his nostrils. Although the baby had no designs painted on its body, he did

have flesh colored paint applied across his face and two blue stones placed over his

eyes.34 Buried with the baby was a small cup made from a cow’s horn and what appears

to be a makeshift baby bottle made from a sheep’s udder attached to a little bag so that

milk could be suckled from the teat. Obviously the caretakers of the baby were

32Kamberi,6‐7.33Barber,52.34Barber,52.

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concerned with his welfare even in the afterlife and deliberately arranged him with items

he used during life, just as they did for the adults.

The structure of Tomb A is consistent with other burials in the Cherchen

Cemetery, with the majority of graves being composed of multiple layers of reeds and

tree trunks with an unfilled chamber at the bottom. In 1989, excavators performed a

“rescue excavation” after some additional tombs had been discovered by locals mining

for salt in the area and were able to recover two more tombs. One of the tombs only

contained a collection of bones from a group of six individuals, which once again showed

that groups were often placed together in the same tomb. The other tomb excavated at

this time, Tomb B, was located about 8 meters from the previous tomb and contained

four bodies throughout the layers but with only one of these bodies placed in the main

part of the tomb (see Illustration III). Similar to the other tombs, this grave was arranged

in a series of layers with an unfilled chamber at the bottom. The tomb was dug in a

rectangular shape measuring 3.5 meters long from west to east and 2.8 meters from north

to south with 0.4 meters of sand comprising the first layer.

Within this layer was the body of an infant, which disintegrated after being

excavated, and the mutilated body of the young woman.35 The woman appeared to be

around twenty years of age with yellow brown hair, and her body had been badly

maimed. Her eyes had been gauged out and her arms and legs cut off, leaving only the

head and the torso. 36 The condition of her body has led to some speculation about human

sacrifice, yet there was no damage done to the shoulder or the hip sockets, so it is more

likely that the woman’s body had been dismembered after she was initially buried,

35Dexiu,169.36Dexiu,173.

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possibly by graverobbers. 37 The infant in the top layer was quite similar to the baby

found in Tomb A-2, in that he had been arranged with his fists placed over his torso and

his right foot crossing the left, just as the other baby was positioned beneath his

swaddling wrap. The infant in Tomb B, however, had no garments with him but did have

two green stones placed over his eyes just as the baby in Tomb A-2 had blue stones

placed over his eyes.38 Both blue and green colored rocks are geologically rare and do not

frequently occur in nature, so the people burying these two infants must have deliberately

searched and saved these rocks for the purpose of the infants’ funeral. Furthermore, it is

highly likely from the particular color choice and the placement of these stones that they

were meant to reflect the eye color of the babies.

Under the level of sand containing the young woman and the infant was a layer of

poplar logs and mats made from tamarisk branches, reeds and cattails. As Sven Hedin

discovered in his travels in the Taklamakan Desert, the Lop-Nor Lake would have turned

this region into a wetland area supplying the people of Cherchen with a large supply of

such marshland vegetation.39 In the center of this cover was a hole about 0.3 meters in

diameter with the body of a one-year-old child shoved upside down through the hole so

that his head was hanging upside down over the main section of the tomb. The young boy

was about 72 centimeters tall and had light brown hair arranged in a braid tied once again

with red wool.40 Found around the boy in this layer of the tomb was some millet cake,

37Kimball,145.38Dexiu,173‐4.39Hedin,396.40Dexiu,172.

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pottery and a few fragments of a woolen blanket. Beneath the layer of reeds was an

unfilled chamber about 1.2 meters long, 0.6 meters wide and 0.9 meters deep.41

The only occupant of this part of the tomb was an older woman whose body had

been cut into three separate parts. Her head had been severed from her spine and placed

on her abdomen, which had been detached from her lower body and placed along the

west side of the tomb. Her lower body was lying on the east side of the tomb with the

knees propped up and her feet on the ground. Excavators believe that grave robbers had

reopened the grave and damaged her body, much like that of the younger woman, which

had also been severely damaged.42

The old woman had long, white hair arranged into two braids with red wool

braided into the ends exactly like the bodies found in Tomb A (Image 8). Also like the

occupants of Tomb A, this woman had decoration applied to her face with black paint on

her eyebrows as well as two ovals in the center of her forehead directly beneath her

hairline.43 She had permanent tattoos on her eye lids in the shape of semi-lunar designs

and a complex swirled design covering the back of her hand and extending up her index,

middle and ring fingers (Image 7).44 The woman was buried with objects similar to those

found in as Tomb A, including a wooden comb, a bunch of reeds tied with red wool, a

spindle whorl with an inserted staff, a cup made out of a cow horn, a tree branch hook,

and spoons.

There were also some other items that indict this woman may have held some

elevated status within the community, such as an object described as an altar by

41Dexiu,170.42Dexiu,170.43Dexiu,171.44Dexiu,172.

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excavators and pieces of white wool with red repeating scroll designs. These items would

have hardly served any domestic or agricultural purpose, so they must have been

specifically connected to either the funerary context or her occupation in life.45 In

addition to the tattoo on her hand, the woman’s fingernails were exceptionally long, more

so than is customary with the shrinkage of flesh around the nails that normally occurs

during decomposition. 46 With such manicured hands, it would have been nearly

impossible for her to participate in any kind of manual labor, so she likely held a high

enough position within her community to warrant a less physical occupation.

IV. TEXTILES:

Just as the burial practices of these Cherchen tombs reveal consistent patterns that

link them together as a group, the regular trends found in their textiles continue to further

develop their unity as a society. Because the bodies have been preserved just as they were

arranged by their contemporaries, it is still evident which pieces were considered

important enough to included in the burial as grave goods and which pieces were selected

to be worn by the corpses. The clothing on the bodies demonstrates easily observable

patterns that instantly indicate the group of people were meant to be understood as a unit.

For example, all of the bodies in Tombs A and A-2 are wearing a similar uniform of

maroon robes, felt leggings and over-the-knee white boots. By maintaining a consistent

pattern of color and garment type, a connection is established between the individual

bodies in order to establish a group relationship.

45 H.EDexiu,170andJeannineDavis‐Kimball,WarriorWomen:AnArchaeologist’sSearchforHistory’sHiddenHeroines.(NewYorkCity:WarnerBooks,2002)145.46MalloryandMair,25.

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Within these groups of textiles, there are slight variations between levels of

quality and complexity of the garments worn on the bodies. Some figures are clearly

accompanied by what can only be described as luxury items that used non-native, and

therefore, costly materials in addition to complex types of decoration. Other garments

employ more complex weaving patterns and types of elaboration that serve no utilitarian

function, but would have been extremely complicated to execute and therefore raise the

overall value of the textile. Only the most important members of the Cherchen society

would have been able to afford garments with imported dyes or extra embellishment. By

wearing these valuable garments, the status of the owner is put on display and is

immediately visible anyone to anyone observing them.

A. UNITY IN COLOR:

When first observing these bodies, one immediately sees the rich burgundy color

of the robes worn by each body. In both Tomb A and Tomb A-2, all of the occupants are

dressed entirely in identical shades of burgundy. The Cherchen Man (Image 1) wears a

two-piece suit made out of the maroon color, consisting of a robe that extends to about

mid-thigh with a matching pair of pants. The Cherchen Woman (Image 2) wears a full-

length burgundy dress that extends all the way to her feet, and the other two women,

although slightly more decomposed, still show remains of their maroon garments over the

majority of their bodies (Images 5 & 6). In addition to the robes, all of the adults also

wear maroon straps tied around their heads to keep their jaws shut during decomposition.

Even the baby in Tomb A-2 has his entire body wrapped in a maroon shawl matching the

hue worn by the adults.47 By covering the majority of each body in the same color, a link

47Barber,38.

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is immediately established between all of the figures. Clearly this color represented some

kind of significance for this particular group of people since the dyers made a deliberate

effort to create a consistent color in multiple pieces of clothing.

Maintaining such a consistent color, particularly this shade of maroon, would not

have been a simple task. Most red dyes found in Asian textiles come from madder root,

which is commonly found in the area. In order to be made into a dye, the root must dried

and then ground before being mixed with some kind of mordant, which is usually an

inorganic, oxide chemical that prevents the color from fading over time or washing out

with water.48 Mordants are typically chemicals like aluminum or iron, which interact with

the dye molecules and make the color permanent.49 Madder can produce a variety of

different reds, ranging from orange to deep ruby reds, but not the shade of maroon found

on any of the bodies.

We can see examples of madder dye used on white wool in a series of banded

textiles found in another tomb in Cherchen (Image 11). In 2008, a series of dye analysis

tests using HPLC with diode array and mass spectrometric detection was performed on

samples of banded textiles excavated from Tomb C in 1987 in Cherchen.50 The tests

showed that the Rubia species of madder, which is found locally around Central Asia, the

Middle East, and the East Coast of China, had been used to create the bright red color

found in banded textiles, as well as the decorative trim found on a blue chemise (Image

48StuartRobinson,AHistoryofDyedTextiles:Dyes,Fibres,PaintedBark,Batik,Starch­resist,Discharge,Tie­dye,FurtherSourcesforResearch(Cambridge:M.I.T,1969)25.49Xian Zhang, Analysis of natural yellow dyes using HPLC with diode array and mass spectrometric detection. (Boston: Boston University, 2008) 5. 50Zhang,90‐1.

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12).51 In some areas of red, researchers found that some yellow dye had been added to the

red even though there is no apparent orange coloring. The shade of red used in these

analyzed garments is quite similar to the bright red found in Tomb A, as can be seen in

the felt stockings of the Cherchen Man or the bright red piping on his maroon robe.

In order to create the darker maroon color, the dyers would have most likely used

the same Rubia madder as was found in the bright red garments, however, they used

brown wool instead of white wool. White or light colored wool is used more frequently in

dyed textiles because it can absorb a larger amount dye more quickly than darker colors

of wool and achieve brighter, more saturated colors. The Cherchen dyers must have

produced a vat of particularly strong madder dye and then dipped the brown wool several

times, using more time and more dye material in order to create the rich burgundy

color.52 The color was found again in smaller examples, such as in Tomb D, where a

piece of maroon and red striped cloth as well as a dome-shaped hat were found in that

color, but nowhere else in the Cherchen cemetery was a group of figures dressed so

consistently in the same color.53 The people of Tomb A and A-2 wanted to be associated

with one another and the maroon color created a kind of uniform that establishes a visual

connection to link them together as a group.

The decision to create this shade of maroon must have been a deliberate choice

made by the dyers in the Cherchen community. They acknowledged the difference

between the shades of red by juxtaposing the deep burgundy and the bright red together,

as seen in the bright red piping found along the seams of the Cherchen Man’s maroon

51Zhang,99.52Barber,39.53SeeTable1inAppendix

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robe.54 By using the combination of the dark wool with the madder dye, the dyers create a

color different from other colors made from simply mixing dyes. The distinctive maroon

color immediately establishes something unique that separates the people in Tomb A and

A-2 from other people in Cherchen while still linking the individuals together.

Furthermore, the process of developing the burgundy color demanded more time and

more dye, which made the color more valuable and raised the status of anyone in

possession of the garment. Anyone wearing the garment was labeled not only as someone

of the Cherchen dyers’ community, but also as someone who could afford or warrant the

higher quality garment.

Another type of textile that was found on all of the bodies in Tombs A and A-2,

are red and blue cords tied around the wrists. On all of the figures, the cord has been used

to arrange the right hand above the left and keep the hands positioned on top of the

abdomen. The cord was obviously an addition during the burial process where a specific

body position was an important part of their funerary traditions and in the case of Tomb

A, was only accomplished through the use of this specific textile. Not only did the burial

tradition require a specific body position, but it would appear that the position could only

e accomplished through the use a particular textile.

The combination of red and blue seems to reflect another pattern found not only

in Tomb A, but in the general Cherchen aesthetic. While red is used frequently on

garments as both the main color as well as in smaller sections in decoration and piping,

the color blue is rarely seen without some accompanying red. Within Tombs A and A-2,

the only visible use of blue found on the adult bodies is in the red and blue cords, not

54Barber,27.

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counting the blue found in the stockings visible only after the boot had deteriorated. The

baby in Tomb A-2 is actually the only body that wears a visible garment of blue, found in

his small bonnet that has a layer of bright red underneath (Image 9). Also included in

Tomb A, although not worn, is a blue shawl woven in a lightweight, plain weave. The

main body of the shawl was made from a light blue color with two red stripes woven

through it. On the sides of the textile, the weavers incorporated a ribbed band with

alternating bars of red and blue ending in a small blue braid.55 By maintaining a regular

pairing of the two colors, another pattern is created that can be identified with the textiles

of Cherchen. Other examples, such as a chemise in Tomb D in Cherchen, also had a blue

body with red border along the cuffs and bottom of the garment (Image 12).

B. DIFFERENTIATION THROUGH QUALITATIVE CHOICES

1.CONSTRUCTION:

While color was used as tool to group individual people together, the construction

of the textiles suggests that there were subtle, individual differences in quality varying

from garment to garment. Just as people today can differentiate between a cheaply made,

bargain t-shirt and an expensive, tailor-made suit, so can similar distinctions be found in

the textiles produced in Cherchen. Depending upon the amount of tailoring and quantity

of fabric used, the textiles can be sorted into differing levels of quality and luxury. The

different levels of quality then reflect upon the type of person who would chose or be

allowed to wear such garments, indicating what kind of position he or she would have

held in the society. Someone who owned a garment specifically altered for his or her

55Barber,50.

23

body type or with larger amounts of fabric could warrant the more expensive garment,

and therefore would occupy a higher position in the group.

The Cherchen Man’s maroon robe is open down the front and goes down to about

mid-thigh in the front and extends to the knees in the back (Image 1). The robe is

constructed in a T-formation, made of two long rectangles woven for each half of the

robe body and then sewn down the center of the back. The sleeves are composed out of

two long, narrow pieces of fabric that are sewn into tubes and attached to the shoulders at

90-degree angles, as opposed to most modern shirts that have been tailored to round out

the shoulders.56 By using the T-formation, the fabric does not have to be cut and the

natural selvedge, or place at the end of the cloth where the weft wraps around the warp to

begin a new row, creates a finished edge on the garment without additional sewing.57

Although the design of the robe may appear simple at first glance, the construction of the

garment ensures that no piece of fabric is wasted and allows the weavers to create pieces

of fabric specially made for the size of the garment. At least one of the other women who

had begun to decompose (the other has deteriorated too much to examine the fit of her

maroon textile) has a similarly constructed garment, which is more fitted along her legs.

Yet her robe differs from the Cherchen Man’s in that it extends past her knees and is

fitted snuggly around her legs and becomes more of a dress.

The Cherchen Woman still wears her robe in good condition, which is of a

distinctly different construction than the decomposed woman or the Cherchen Man.

(Image 2). The Cherchen Woman’s robe extends past her knees all the way to her feet,

following the example of the other woman in functioning as more of a dress than just a

56Barber,25.57Barber,26.

24

robe. Her dress differs, however, from the other woman, in that her garment is less fitted

than the other occupant and flows out from her waist with copious amounts of fabric

around her legs. The makers of her garment did not seem so concerned with the

conservation of material, and the extra fabric surrounding her legs would have served

little functional purpose. By using more material, it automatically raises the value of her

garment as opposed to one with a limited amount of fabric.

Furthermore, the actual fabric of the Cherchen Woman’s dress seems to be of a

higher quality than the Cherchen Man’s robe. The fabric of her dress has a softer feel to

the material as well as a brighter sheen.58 The wool may have some type of mohair or

crude silk mixed into it in order to produce the higher gloss of the fabric. The decision to

include mohair or silk was most likely an aesthetic decision since the sheen or softness of

the fabric would not have served any utilitarian purpose. Even though the color of the

robes is used to establish a relationship between all of the members of the tomb, there are

still indications of their status in relation to one another as individuals.

Another area of variation in construction methods can be seen in the braiding

pattern of the red and blue cords, with every type of braid just slightly altered for each

person. The cord found on the Cherchen Man was plied to make a diagonal red, red, blue,

blue repeating pattern (Image 3). The cord around the Cherchen Woman’s hands (Image

4), much like her dress, employs a more complex method of construction than the

Cherchen Man’s cord. Her cord appears to have been braided with multiple cords of red,

blue and pink in a fishtail braid.59 The cord found on the baby was wrapped around his

entire body and was just made out of one red and one blue cord that had been plied

58Barber,48.59Barber,47.

25

together and is by far the most simple of the methods used in the cords (Image 9).

Although the placement and the color combination is consistent and marks them as a

unified group, the distinct variations on the type and complexity of braid once again

reflects upon their individual status.

Although the Cherchen Man’s robe and red and blue cord may not be as complex

as the Cherchen Woman’s, he does have another type of cord that is more complicated

and quite unique. In addition to the blue and red cord, another cord is tied around the

Cherchen Man’s waist to hold the front of his robe closed and is composed of five

different colors: blue, green, yellow, bright red, and maroon (Image 3). Each thread

emerges individually from the cord and then is pulled back within the cord in a manner

that makes the colors appear to spiral around one another.60 The technique used to make

such a cord is most likely similar to the method used in the Japanese craft of kumihimo,

where one uses a flat disk held up by four legs with a hole in the center (Illustration VII).

Various bobbins are hung in a circle around the outside of the disk and then the

individual threads are funneled through the center to create the cord.61 The pattern used to

create the Cherchen Man’s cord would have required 24 different threads in the five

colors.62

Even though the cord would not have taken a large quantity of a thread to make, it

still would have required dyers to create five individual colors, each with a different raw

material and dyeing process. The red, as mentioned previously, would have come from

madder dyed on white wool and the maroon was of the same shade created by the

60Barber,28.61Barber,58.62Barber,59.

26

combination of red dye on dark brown wool. The yellow cord would have been made by

some variety of weld, which currently grows from the Mediterranean to Western Asia

and Northwest India.63 The blue would have come from one of the isometric forms of

indigo, which is derived from a shrub in the legume or pea family and found natively in

India, and the green would have been made from a combination of the weld and indigo

dyes.64 The amount of time needed to dye all the individual colors, let alone weave them

all together in the pattern found in the Cherchen Man’s cord, would greatly increase the

value of the textile. The Cherchen Man is the only occupant of the tomb, and as far as we

know, the only person in the Cherchen Cemetery to be found with this type of cord. The

cord was an object unique to him and reflected upon his position within the Cherchen

society.

2. WEAVING:

Just as the method of construction was altered based upon the type of garment

being produced, so was the type of weaving deliberately chosen according to the type of

garment being woven. The Cherchen weavers were familiar with several kinds of

weaving patterns and could vary the weight of their garments from a light gauzy fabric—

as seen in a blue shawl—to a dense, thick fabric—as found in a brown overcoat also

found in Tomb A. Because certain weaving patterns are more time consuming than others

or require more material to weave, the type of weavings can also be distinguished from

one another and contribute to overall quality of the garment. More complexity and more

material raises the value of the garment and once again, reflects upon the type of person

who would be able to own a more expensive garment.

63Zhang,96.64Zhang,99,Ibid5,andRobinson24.

27

The most basic of weaves is called a plain weave, also known as a tabby weave

(Illustration IV). The plain weave can be found in the Cherchen Man’s maroon robe and

is created by alternating the horizontal weft above and below the vertical warp threads.

The weight or density of the fabric can be changed based upon how much the threads are

packed together as the weaver continues, but generally the plain weave is less time-

consuming than most types of weaves.65 In contrast to the plain weave, a variation on

twill, known as the long-hop twill, was also found on several items of clothing in Tomb

A, such as the Cherchen Woman’s dress and a brown overcoat found in another level of

the tomb. In traditional twill weave, the weft goes over two and under two of the warp

and each row is offset by one so that a diagonal slant is created in the fabric (Illustration

V). The weft is then packed down hard to create a denser, more durable fabric, however it

does take more time and more material to produce the final cloth. The long-hop twill type

of twill found in Cherchen differs from traditional twill in that the weft goes over three

and then under two, creating a denser fabric as well as a more dramatic illusion of

diagonal texture than in traditional twill (Illustration VI).66

The use of the long-hop twill requires more work from the weaver than a regular

plain weave, because the weaver must now keep track of the count of warps and wefts

and be sure to continue the pattern in each row to maintain a consistent diagonal slant.

The long-hop twill acts as another trait unique to the Cherchen people’s weaving

practices that set them apart from other weaving communities. Just as the construction

method of the Cherchen Woman’s robe indicated a slightly higher value, so does the use

of the long-hop twill. Where the Cherchen Man’s robe was of the simpler plain weave

65Barber,26.66Barber,39.

28

and utilized a construction method that did not waste any additional fabric, the Cherchen

Woman’s garment used a more complicated style of weave and a higher quality type of

fabric.

The Long-hop Twill also reappears in the dark brown overcoat found with the

white blanket and saddle in the upper layers of Tomb A (see Illustration II). The main

body of the coat is an undyed, natural, dark brown and appears at first glance to be woven

into diagonal rows that enter the sleeve cuffs at an angle. To bring more attention to the

cuff area, the ends of the sleeves and the bottom of the coat have a red border woven into

the fabric, in the same bright red color that was used in the decorative red piping found

on the Cherchen Man’s robe. In addition to the decoration on the cuffs, the sleeves of the

brown overcoat have been slightly tailored so that they gradually taper off at the cuffs.67

From using a combination of the long-hop twill, tapering of the sleeves and incorporating

the bright red color into the decoration of the cuff, the garment becomes quite a valuable

textile. The makers of this garment deliberately chose methods that were more complex

and time-consuming to create a higher quality garment.

Long-hop twill was not the only option for creating a more complex type of

weave and another variation can be found in the maroon shawl worn by the baby in Tomb

A-2. The majority of the shawl uses plain weave and is the same color and weight as the

Cherchen Man’s robe (Image 9). The difference in the baby’s wrap is that the weaver has

added a line of overspun wool, which is thicker and curlier than regular thread, every 25-

30 rows. The addition of the overspun yarn creates horizontal lines of zigzags throughout

the blanket, adding some texture to the textile and differentiating it from regular plain

67Barber,39.

29

weave.68 By including this line of decoration into the weaving of the shawl, the

complexity of the garment is increased and would require more time by requiring the

weaver to incorporate the overspun yarn in as she wove in regular intervals. Once again,

by increasing the complexity of the weaving process, the overall value of the garment is

increased and signifies the status of the owner.

Another type of weaving used by the Cherchen community was band weaving,

where one textile was made of several individual sections and then sewn into one piece,

as can be seen from Tomb C (Image 11). Mostofthesebandswerequitenarrowand

rangedfromacentimeterto1.25centimeterswidebutcouldbeaslongas1.6

meters.Thenumberofbandsalsovariedgreatlyfromtextiletotextileandsome

usedasmanyasthirty‐sevenbandsinoneblanket.69Mostofthebandswerea

single,dyedcolorlikeyellow,red,orange,blueoroccasionallyanundyedbrown,

butsomeofthebandsutilizedmultiplecolorsinelaboratepatterns.Patternswith

trianglesor“X”shapeswovenwereoftenspreadoutbetweenthemorecommon,

solidcoloredstripes,whichwouldhavebeenlesstimeconsumingtomakeand

requirefewerdifferentcoloredthreads.70

Bandweavingdoesnotrequirealoomandwouldhavebeeneasytostartand

stopwhilemovingfromplacetoplace.Theweaversjustneededsomethingtotiethe

otherendofthebandto,likeatreeortheweaver’sfoot,andthenonecouldpull

backandweave.71 Judging by the amount of wool used by the Cherchen people, herding

sheep must have been a full time occupation and band weaving would have been an easy 68Barber,52.69Barber,54.70Barber,54.71Barber,55.

30

task to pick up and drop while watching over a herd of sheep.72 In comparison with loom

weaving, creating so many individual bands is a rather time consuming way to make a

large textile. While weaving one individual band was not a particularly difficult task,

creating enough bands to make a large textile would have required much more effort than

creating a textile of equivalent size on a loom. The individual time needed to make each

band and then sew them all together signifies a more valuable textile in comparison to a

piece of plain-woven cloth.

An additional type of banded cloth was found in the Cherchen Cemetery that used

another type of band weaving, was the half basket weave used to create 17.8-centimeter

wide strips, which were then sewn together to make a skirt. Half basket weave is similar

to twill, where the weft goes over two warp threads and then under two, but the half

basket weave incorporates two weft threads in each row under the warp.73 The majority

of the textile is made of alternating red and yellow stripes, with red even being added on

to a yellow strip, so symmetry was not an issue of concern. The end of the garment

contained a decorative plait of red, white and blue, and the sides of the garment were

sewn together to create a giant circle. The top of the garment was gathered up to make a

kind of skirt and there are marks around the top of the skirt where the material was

regularly gathered to hold around the waist.74 The weavers in Cherchen must have been

advanced enough in their band weaving techniques that they were able to alter the size

and complexity of the band based upon the type of garment.

72Barber,57.73Barber,61.74Barber,61.

31

One of the most complicated methods of weaving in the Cherchen Cemetery is

tapestry. Tapestryweavingisquitedistinctivefromotherweavingmethodsinthat

sectionsofcolororpatternarewovenindividuallyinablockontheloomandthen

theseparatepartsarestitchedtogethertocreateonesolidtextile.Tapestry is thought

to have originally come from the Near East in 4000 BCE, around the time when sheep

with wooly coats were first bred. Wool is able to stretch more than plant fibers like linen

or hemp, and it was only once wool became available that the tapestry weave became

possible.75 Even though the Cherchen Cemetery was used into the early centuries AD,

finding the tapestry weave is a rather remarkable discovery since the Egyptians only

picked up the technique around 1500 BCE from Syria.76 Clearly the weavers in the

Cherchen community were quite advanced in their weaving methods and were aware of

the different approaches of other weavers as well.

The largest intact piece of tapestry weave is found in a beautiful blue chemise

found in Tomb D at Cherchen. The chemise had a strip of multicolored tapestry along the

bottom of the garment and in the cuffs of the sleeves. The decoration along the bottom of

the garment uses a lightning bolt design with red, blue, yellow and brown and the sleeves

use a swirl and lightning bolt pattern made of the same colors as the bottom. Such a large

amount of tapestry in such complex designs would have instantly raised the value of any

garment.

Other examples of tapestry fragments have been found throughout the Cherchen

cemetery, usually involving some kind of decorative pattern. One small piece was made

of red and yellow swirls in a similar pattern to the design found on the painted cloth

75Barber,66.76Barber,62.

32

found on the decomposed woman’s knee in Tomb A (Image 6). Another piece of tapestry

was found with zigzags of blue, light red, yellow, maroon and peach on a white

background.77 A few other samples of tapestry scraps were found throughout the

Cherchen Cemetery that were dyed in the same color as the robes found on all of the

adults in Tomb A. Since many of the pieces of tapestry found in Cherchen are so small, it

is difficult to discern what kind of textile they would have formed; however, the labor-

intensive nature of the weave itself would indicate that any textile involving tapestry

would have been an expensive garment. Furthermore, because tapestry was often used for

patterned textiles, it frequently incorporated many different colors, which would also

increase the value of the garment.

C. LUXURY ITEMS:

1. BLUE:

Through the combination of color, weaving and construction methods used by the

Cherchen textile makers, there are certain garments that strongly indicate items with a

luxury status. When the dyers, weavers and tailors have all used their most complex

techniques and rare materials in one garment, the textile—as well as the owner—reflects

a high status within society. Most of the garments embodying these characteristics are not

worn by the corpses, but are included in the burial as a type of grave good, perhaps too

valuable to risk being damaged by regular wear.

One instant indicator of such luxury status can be seen in the vibrant blue color

found in several of the garments in Cherchen. The sapphire color in these textiles was

made from a species of the indigo plant, not naturally found in the Cherchen area, or even

77Barber,62.

33

the Taklamakan region.78 In order to obtain the plant substance, the Cherchen people

must have traded with other groups from the south and been willing to sacrifice some of

their own goods in exchange. There are two types of indigo commonly used in textile

dyes, one known as Indian indigo that generally produces a richer, darker blue and Old

World Indigo, more commonly known as woad, which produces a lighter blue. Indigo is

processed using a vat dyeing system, where the plant substance is mixed with an alkaline

solution, like ammonia, that transforms the dye substance into a leuco-compound that

fixes on to the fiber when exposed to air. When the wool is first placed in the vat, it

becomes a pale yellow that then turns to a deep blue once removed from the solution and

will remain both water and light fast.79 The process of dyeing with woad is slightly more

complicated since it uses only the leaf of the plant, but it produces an even longer lasting

color than the Indian variety of indigo. 80

The hazard of working with the indigo dye is that when using ammonia, which

could be made through decomposing urine, toxic fumes evaporate into the air. The fumes

are so toxic that if a dyer were to be exposed to them over a long period of time, they

would cause serious health problems for the dyer. Furthermore, in order to obtain a

vibrant shade of blue, the wool would have to be dipped in the vat multiple times and

thus prolong the dyer’s contact with the fumes. Not only would indigo have been rare and

therefore expensive since it was not locally available, but the dyer could sustain serious

health problems from using the dye. Blue becomes a very valuable color and even in

small amounts can elevate the worth of a textile.

78Zhang,99.79Robinson,26‐7.80Robinson,23.

34

One of the largest examples of blue can be found in Tomb D located in Cherchen,

where an entire chemise made of blue was discovered (Image 12). At first glance, the

entire body of the chemise seems to be made out of blue wool, with the collar of the

garment appearing to be a shade lighter than the body. The weavers were able to create

the illusion of a larger amount of blue wool as well as a darker shade by using dark

brown wool in the warp of the fabric. The blue wool used in the weft is packed down so

tightly that it covers the brown wool in the warp. By making use of other, less expensive

wool in the unseen warp of the garment, the weavers were able to create the impression

of a much larger amount of the expensive blue material. Furthermore, by making the

body of the garment appear to be a darker shade of blue, it also created the impression

that the dyers had used more dye to create the richer, dark blue hue and further increased

the value of the garment.

The collar of the garment uses the same illusion as the body, although in this

section, the color of the warp makes the collar appear to be a lighter shade of blue. Peach

colored wool in the warp and then the blue once again in the weft, providing a contrast to

the darker shade of blue found in the main body.81 The collar was a complicated addition

to the garment, stretching across the shoulders, chest and back with the outer edges

decreasing by five squares to form a large steeped cross. To create such a shape on the

loom would have been extremely time consuming and complicated because the shape of

the collar would have been shaped through adding and dropping warps and wefts varying

in each line. The fact that the weavers were willing to spend so much time on a

81Barber,64.

35

nonessential part of the garment adds to the evidence that this textile was meant to be a

high luxury piece.82

In addition to the blue color of the garment and the complicated collar, the

weavers also incorporated the decorative tapestry border along the bottom of the garment

and the cuffs, as mentioned previously. Since the two patterns of tapestry used in the

cuffs and along the bottom require five colors, the value of the garment is raised again

because of the all of the separate dyes required to create them. The value of the

decoration is augmented even more by the use of those colors in the tapestry weave,

which is an advanced type of weave and quite time-consuming to execute. From the

combination of the valuable blue dye, the complex construction of the collar, and the

intricate tapestry weaving of the cuff and the hem, this chemise becomes the ultimate

luxury item.

Another large amount of blue can be seen on the shawl included as a grave good

in Tomb A. As mentioned previously, the majority of the garment is made of light blue

with two red stripes and a decorative blue and red fringe border. Such a large portion of

the blue color, beyond just a small amount used as decoration, immediately would

indicate to anyone viewing the wearer that he or she occupied a high status. Furthermore,

the garment is more of an accessory garment, as opposed to an essential item like a shirt

or a dress that would have been needed on a daily basis. A shawl is still needed in cold

weather but is more of a supplementary garment, which further indicates the owner’s

ability to possess additional items of clothing beyond the basics. Anyone who was able to

82Barber,64.

36

afford a large amount of blue fabric on an accessory item would have occupied a position

high enough in their society that allowed them to own such items.

In Tomb A-2, the baby wears a blue hat, made out a layer of cobalt blue felt

formed over another layer of red wool around the infant’s head. Although the layer of

blue felt is stretched relatively thin over the red cap, there is still a significant amount of

material used to make the baby’s bonnet, and the color is a particularly deep shade of

blue. In order to create such a vibrant shade, the dyers must have dipped the wool

multiple times, using more dye material and exposing them for a longer period of time to

the fumes. The baby must have been important to the people who buried him, otherwise

they would not have bestowed such a costly cap upon the child. Each body has a blue and

red cord wrapped around their hands, which testifies not only to their unity as a group

through wearing the textile, but that all peoples within the group had warranted a status to

possess such a costly item.

1. HATS:

Hats were another item repeatedly found at Cherchen, particularly in Tomb A. No

fewer than ten different varieties were found with the bodies, far more than could ever be

needed for everyday purposes. Other tombs in Cherchen may have included a hat worn

by the corpse, with an additional hat or two in some cases, but no other tomb had such an

abundance of hats as Tomb A. Most of the hats were made out of dense, matted felt with

a few exceptions. Felt was a natural complement to a nomadic lifestyle since it was far

lighter than wood or metal and therefore could be more easily transported when moving

from place to place.83 In order to make it, a layer of combed, unspun wool is spread out

83Barber,37.

37

and sprinkled with whey or hot water, and then wrapped up in a mat. The wool must then

be mashed and kneaded together over an extended period of time, like being attached to

the back of a horse while riding. The liquid applied to the wool causes the scales on the

surface of the wool fibers to become tangled up in one another, creating one solid fabric.

Particular types of wool are the only natural fibers that will behave this way and

depending on how much it was kneaded, the felt could become quite dense and in some

cases waterproof. Felt was used beyond just clothing for flooring, bedding, saddle gear,

tent coverings or even dishes. 84

Felt was a perfect material for hats. Not only could they be made light enough to

prevent hindering the wearer, but could still be quite warm. Felt can also be molded into

an assortment of different shapes and sizes, which inspires a lot of variety in the types of

hats’ shapes. Such a variety was certainly evident in Tomb A, where each of the ten hats

was a different style. One hat resembled the shape of a circus tent with a pointed tip at the

top and four sides that sloped down to the rounded rim along the bottom. The color of the

hat looks to be a natural brown but had small bits of red wool sprinkled throughout the

felt.85 Another hat was made out of two pieces of white felt molded into a helmet shape,

and the top of the hat had two rolls of felt curved up to almost resemble horns.86 One of

the most impressive of the collection included a tall, dark brown hat that curves back

from the head to form a high rounded peak at the top while the bottom forms a cuff

around the wearer’s face (Image 10). Around the edge of the cuff is a buttonhole stitch in

84Barber,37.85Barber,33.86Barber,33.

38

light tan along the front of the hat and down the back, holding the two halves together.87

In addition to the fact that no one person needed ten hats for practical reasons, many of

these hats included ornament details and shapes that would have required extra work

from the maker. In the case of the tall brown hat, the decorative shape might have even

decreased the practicality of wearing the hat. Just the ability to own so many hats

indicates that the owner must have occupied a position high enough in their society that

warranted the possession of the headwear collection.

One of the hats was constructed in a more complicated and time-consuming

method than the felt hats. This hat resembles a beret, with the top divided into four

quadrants and each section ribbed in perpendicular directions. A thin stick wrapped in a

fine thread was stuck through the top, which narrows down to a band fitting around the

head. At first glance, the beret appears to be have been knitted in a looped technique,

however, there is no evidence for knitting in this region for another 2,000 years.88

Instead, it is believed that a nalbinding technique had been used, where a needle and

thread is used to increase the width of the top and then decrease the bottom rim to the size

of the wearer’s head. Such a technique would have been quite time consuming because

the hatmaker would have needed to tailor the opening of the hat specifically for the size

of the wearer’s head.89 Another hat was found in a nearby tomb in Cherchen that used the

nalbinding technique and was a dark red, dome shape with a spiral woven into the hat

that circled around from the tip to the base of the hat.90

87Barber,33.88Barber,33.89Barber,33.90Barber,60.

39

In a time when possessions were limited, the sheer amount of non-essential pieces

of clothing in the tombs such as hats, shawls, cords, and overcoats indicates a high status.

The variety in shapes and colors would merely be for the benefit of the owner and

demonstrate his ability to possess such a large amount of material goods. Where other

less wealthy or less respected members of the society would have to be concerned with

food or working garments, these people were able to create their own extended collection

of hats, which were evidently important enough to warrant inclusion as grave goods.

Only a higher status member of society would have been able to own so many

supplementary garments and by wearing and possessing them, demonstrates his or her

status.

V. SUBESHI CEMETERY:

The traditions and cultural practices in Cherchen are not an isolated case in the

Taklamakan Desert. Other groups of Caucasoid burials have been found throughout the

Tarim Basin dating before and after the period of the Cherchen Cemetery and employ

similar textile and funerary traditions. One cemetery in particular, located in Subeshi,

continues many of the same customs as the Cherchen Cemetery. Much like those found

in Cherchen, these people were buried wearing complex textiles that also reflected their

position within society. The people of Subeshi developed visual signifiers of value in

their garments by using color, types of garments and funerary practices in a similar

manner to the people of Cherchen.

The Subeshi Cemeteries are located in a gorge along the northern foothills of the

Flaming Mountains, approximately 350 miles northeast of the Cherchen Cemetery in the

40

village of Zaghunluq.91 The word “Subeshi” comes from the Uyghur dialect and means

“origin of water,” and researchers found the first traces of ancient dwellings and

graveyards about three kilometers away from the Subeshi oasis. Over 300 square meters

have been excavated in multiple cemeteries at the site, with approximately 52 tombs and

three houses being recovered so far. The findings in Subeshi date between the 5th to 4th

Century BCE, which is about 500 years after Tomb A in Cherchen.92 The first eight

tombs were excavated in 1980 and another five were exhumed during an emergency

excavation between 1991 and 1992, after grave robbers had ransacked another 35

tombs.93

Two main types of tombs have been found in Subeshi: vertical shaft graves and

shaft graves with separate side entrances.94 Shaft graves are rectangular pits, dug

typically no more than two meters deep and arranged in layers of dry grass and pebbles.

The main opening of the grave was covered with a wooden covering, placed at the top of

the grave or on the side. Much like the graves in Cherchen, many of the tombs are group

burials containing multiple bodies in unfilled chambers.95 The bodies are also similarly

arranged to the Cherchen people in that the cadavers are lying on their backs with their

knees bent and their hands placed on their stomachs. The bodies rest upon grass mats or

cushions about 10 cm thick and their heads are consistently oriented towards the west or

northwest.

91BinghuaWang.TheAncientCorpsesofXinjiang:ThePeoplesofAncientXinjiangandtheirCulture.(China:CIP,1999)103.92MalloryandMair,195.93Wang,103.94ThefollowinginformationwastakenfromatexttranslatedfromChinese,anditisunclearfromthedescriptionwhetherthetombdescriptionwasintendedfortheverticalshaftgraves,theshaftgraveswithasideentrance,orboth.95Wang,103‐5.

41

Another similarity between the two cemeteries is a type of animal protein or fatty

substance spread on the skin of the bodies to act as a kind of preservative tool. While the

specific type of animal fat is still unidentified, it would appear that both cultures were

concerned with the preservation of their dead. Remnants of a red pigment were also

found scattered on the floors of the tombs, as if thrown in during the burial. The red

pigment may have been used in some kind of face paint, as seen on the Cherchen bodies,

however, not enough flesh remains on most of the faces to determine whether face paint

had been used.96 Cosmetic kits were, however, found with several of the women and

contained whitener, rouge and a product similar to mascara. The black mascara product

may have been used in a similar manner to the makeup found on the older woman from

Tomb B, who had black applied to her eyebrows.

Although much of the facial flesh on Subeshi bodies has deteriorated, their hair

has remained in very good condition and also seems to follow the gendered standards that

were common in Cherchen. For men, hair was shorn between ear and shoulder level,

although some males in Cherchen still maintained a single, long braid of hair. The

women in both Cherchen and Subeshi have their hair arranged in numerous long braids.

While the Cherchen women have their braids loose with red wool braided into ends, the

majority of the women at Subeshi have their braids gathered into nets made of thread.97

The hairnets were made with some kind of needle technique or by another method called

sprang, which is similar to the technique used in cat’s cradle. One simply twists parallel

96Wang,105‐6.97Wang,106.

42

threads until the entire length has been twisted and then the thread is darned crosswise to

prevent it from untwisting.98

In addition to placing significance on their hair, both the women of Subeshi and

the people of Cherchen have placed significance upon their hands, particularly the left. In

Tomb B at Cherchen, there was an older woman found with elaborate spiral tattoos all

along her arm, hand, and up her index, middle and ring fingers (Image 7). Her tattooed

arm was arranged on her chest while her unmarked hand was placed towards her side, as

if to draw further attention to the tattooed hand. On the Cherchen Man in Tomb A, there

was a white, leather thong strapped around the fingers of his left hand, although the its

purpose is still to be determined. Two women in Subeshi were also documented as

wearing a white leather glove or mitten on one hand, with the mitten once again being

only on the left hand (Image 13).99 Whether the emphasis placed upon the left hand is

utilitarian or symbolic is unknown, but nevertheless the decision reinforces the continued

traditions between Subeshi and Cherchen.

Besides the objects included on the bodies, there were other grave goods

specifically laid out beside the individual people. Both the Cherchen and the Subeshi

Cemeteries have contained saddles, indicating that both societies rode horses and

believed it to be significant enough to include in their burials (Image 15). Both

cemeteries also had small amounts of food stored in small bags made of goat or sheep

leather, usually containing millet and mutton, which was more frequently found in

Subeshi than Cherchen.100 The Cherchen and Subeshi people shared many key lifestyle

98Barber,200.99Wang,107.100Wang,88&110‐1.

43

factors, both concerned with horseback riding and raising sheep and/or goats as seen by

their use of leather and mutton, and eating and storing grains like millet. The connections

in their lifestyles and burial practices make the similarities in their textiles even more

compelling by arguing their societies were constructed in a comparable manner.

The woolen textiles found in Subeshi also share some similar characteristics to the

ones discovered in Cherchen. Red trim was frequently used in the Cherchen textiles, in

the Cherchen Man’s maroon robe and pants to as well as a brown overcoat located in a

separate layer of his tomb. The decision to use red trim was continued on several females

in Subeshi (M.6, Cemetery III), who wore wool shirts with red trim along the collar and

sleeve. Another Subeshi woman was found with red trim on the cuff of her shirt as well

as sewn along the seams of a mitten worn on her left hand (Image 13). The color was not

limited to women, and a male in Subeshi was found with a decorative piece of

rectangular leather attached to his chest with red trim around the outside and triangles and

swirls painted in the front (Image 16).101 Some textile traditions, such as the Slavic

cultures, used red around the openings of garments in the belief that the color had the

power to ward off sickness and demons from passing through the clothing.102 While

placing red trim on garments may have been a purely aesthetic choice, the use of the red

trim on the mitten and the leather piece seems to imply a more spiritual or symbolic

purpose on less utilitarian items. By imbuing the color with spiritual power, not only is

the color but also any garment using the color, elevated to a higher status in addition to

the person wearing the garment.

101Wang,108.102ElizabethBarber,Women’sWork:TheFirst20,000Years:Women,ClothandSocietyinEarlyTimes.(NewYork:Norton,1994)94.

44

The color red was found again in the red and blue cords tied around the wrists of

the mummies in Cherchen, another tradition that was continued into the burial practices

at Subeshi. All of the bodies in Tombs A and A-2 had a red and blue cord, braided in

various methods, tied around their wrists. While not all of the bodies in Subeshi were

found with the red and blue cords, some of the women had a red and blue cord tied

around their waists to hold up their wide, striped skirts (Image 13). Furthermore, the long

skirt with wide colorful stripes is similar to skirts found in Cherchen, which combined a

series of banded textiles in red and yellow stripes to create large skirts. Although the

Subeshi traditions are not exactly the same as what was seen in Cherchen, it would seem

that the Subeshi people had adapted the practice from the Cherchen tradition and

designated it towards a specific type of individual.

The people in Subeshi also seemed to share the Cherchen people’s passion for

hats. While a variety of ten different hats were included in the burial of Tomb A, almost

all of the burials in Subeshi included headwear of some kind. Men typically wore a

helmet-like covering made out of felt, not dissimilar to the white, helmet-shaped hat

mentioned above from Cherchen.103 Some of the women’s hats from Subeshi were

particularly impressive, several being found with what closely resembles the Western

image of a witch hat (Image 14). The “witch” hats had a wide rim that wrapped around

the wearer’s face, which was then topped by a tall cone that narrowed as it extended into

the air. The tall peaks of the hats were kept upright by being stuffed with reeds or a stick,

and one woman was even found with two points coming out of her hat.104 Most of the

hats were made out of undyed black wool, although one woman was found with a hard

103Wang,112.104Barber(1995),199.

45

leather hat in a similar shape.105 The shape of the witch hats are similar to one of the hats

in Cherchen (Image 10), which also had a tall point and a rim that wrapped around the

wearer’s face and possibly served as inspiration for what would later become the Subeshi

witch hats.

While the men’s hats may have been more conducive to utilitarian functions, such

as warmth or protection from the elements, the tall “witch” hats could have hardly been

functional in agricultural or domestic work. Large pieces of headgear have often been

used to show respect or social status within societies, and hats must have been an

important part of both Cherchen and Subeshi culture in order for them to be included

prominently in so many tombs. It would appear that whatever compelled these women to

wear these hats was not labor-intensive, since no practical or physical work could have

been accomplished while wearing such a garment. Instead the need for these hats must

have been based upon a need specific to the Subeshi society and only designated to

certain women, who were elevated above other members of their community. While hats

were perhaps beginning to designate some kind of elevated status within the Cherchen

society, the Subeshi “witch” hats must have been used to delineate a position within their

society that was elevated enough that they did not have to perform manual labor.

VI. LIFE IN THE TARIM BASIN:

From the combination of textiles and grave goods located in the Cherchen and

Subeshi Cemeteries, the important aspects of their daily lives become increasingly

evident. First and foremost, the most frequently found items are products made from

sheep. Not only was wool used in all of the garments found in Cherchen and Subeshi, but

105Wang,106.

46

it was used to make other kinds of textiles, such as the yarn used around reeds, spindles,

and along the seams of garments. Colored tufts of wool were inserted in nostrils of the

Old Woman in Tomb B as well as the baby in Tomb A-2. Smaller pieces of red wool

were also passed through the Cherchen Man and Cherchen Woman’s ears and all of the

bodies in Tomb A had maroon wool straps tied around their jaws. In addition to using

wool for textiles, sheep were an important source of food in both Cherchen and Subeshi,

and pieces of mutton in leather bags were placed by several of the bodies.106 Body parts

of sheep were found buried near tombs, such as the sheep head located in the reed layer

of Tomb A. 107 The placement of just the severed sheep head would appear to indicate

some kind of value associated with the sheep other than its utilitarian functions of

providing wool and meat. In order to produce such a large number of sheep-related

products, the Subeshi and Cherchen people must have been responsible for substantial

herds.

Subeshi and Cherchen appeared to have access to other kinds of livestock, as seen

from the horse head and foreleg buried 1.75 meters southwest from Tomb A at

Cherchen.108 Saddles were also included in Tomb A above the main chamber as well as

in tombs in Subeshi, indicating that riding horses was an activity significant enough to

include into the afterlife. The Cherchen and Subeshi people also appear to have cows, due

to the number of cow horn cups found in almost every burial. In Cherchen, Tombs A, A-

2 and B all contained cups made from the horns of cows.109 From the combination of

sheep, horses, and cows, the Cherchen and Subeshi communities must have been

106Wang,88.107Kamberi,5.108Kamberi,5.109Kamberi6&Dexiu170.

47

responsible for a large number of livestock, requiring sizeable amounts of land and water

for grazing in addition to constant care and handling provided by herders.

During the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age when the Cherchen people would

have been present, many nomadic communities would rotate their grazing pastures based

on the seasons. Herding nomads in the steppe and desert regions of ancient Central Asia

developed at the same time as agricultural communities, when early farmers would move

their herds to less fertile regions in order to make room for crops.110 During the summer

months, shepherds would move their flocks up into the mountains and then return to

lower elevations during winter, which were more sheltered from the elements.111 The

Cherchen Cemetery is located at the base of the Altun Mountains and would have been a

prime location for seasonal rotation grazing, allowing for a greater range of territory to

sustain large herds of livestock.

If the Cherchen people did follow a nomadic lifestyle, this would place an even

greater value upon their textile goods. The perpetual change of location prevents a long-

term accumulation of material items, and textiles were one of the few goods that could be

easily transported from place to place.112 The change of camps from one location to

another entails a considerable amount of additional amount of work. The task of

transitioning and reestablishing the main camp would have most likely been the duty of

the women of the society, who were also the main producers of textiles.113 Female chores

had to be compatible with childcare, which typically meant that their duties were

110EliseBoulding,TheUndersideofHistory.(Newbury:SagePublications,1992)248.111MichaelFrachetti,PastoralLandscapesandSocialInteractioninBronzeAgeEurasia.(LosAngeles:UniversityofCaliforniaPress,2008)152.112Boulding,274.113Boulding,251.

48

concentrated in the domestic area, and they did not participate as frequently in activities

like herding that required more movement.114 Weaving, spinning, and carding wool was

an apt occupation for the domestic environment since it could be easily resumed or halted

while taking care of children in the main camp area.

While textile production would have occupied much of women’s time, women

had several other duties vital to the survival of the group. In addition to childcare, women

were also responsible for most of the food preparation for the society. The majority of a

woman’s day could be easily be consumed with the butchering, preparing and cooking of

the meals for the community. The women would have also been responsible for any

livestock that remained at the camp and most likely would have participated in the

training of the horses used by men in herding.115 All time spent on textiles would have

taken away from other vital tasks for the community, making the decision to use the time-

consuming methods an even more valuable choice. Devoting significant amounts of time

to textile production would suggest that the people of the Cherchen community saw the

making of garments as an equally important activity for their society as food and

reproduction. The garments that clearly demonstrated more complicated, and therefore

more time-consuming, techniques would have been an instant indictor of a valuable item.

The society of Subeshi, in contrast to Cherchen, was more permanently fixed, as

evidenced by the houses found at the excavation site.116 The word “Subeshi” means

origin of water and there is still an oasis located near the cemetery. By having access to a

reliable source of water, the Subeshi people probably had yearlong grazing areas

114Boulding,251.115Boulding,274.116Wang,103.

49

available to them and did not have to circulate to different locations throughout the year.

Nevertheless, textiles still remained a critical aspect of their society and remaining in one

location would have allowed them to accumulate more material goods than the nomads of

Cherchen.

The more sedentary Subeshi lifestyle could be responsible for some of the

adaptations made to the textile culture from the traditions found in Cherchen. Where the

Cherchen textiles were precious because they were often few, the Subeshi people were

able to possess larger numbers of textiles and so that no longer became as clear of

indication of status. Instead the Subeshi people adapted their textiles to showier purposes

in order to further demonstrate their status. One example of this can be seen in the change

in styles of hats from Cherchen to Subeshi. In Cherchen, the hats in Tomb A are valuable

because there are so many in an environment where possessing large quantities of

garments is unusual. Yet in Subeshi, the women developed their “witch” hats, which

were ostentatiously unpractical and clearly meant to signify something about the wearer’s

status.

VII. CONCLUSION:

The culture of the Cherchen people is woven throughout their textiles in order to

designate elevated individuals, specifically seen in their color choices, weaving patterns

and construction methods. The combination of these elements developed consistent

patterns that indicated which garments were most valuable and what kind of individual

was able to possess such textiles. The makers of these garments deliberately chose the

more complicated, more expensive and more time-consuming options that immediately

displayed the value of the garment to anyone who saw it. The appearance of the textiles

50

must have been important enough to those who owned them that the visual recognition of

the precious garment warranted the additional expense. The textiles worn by the

Cherchen people make a statement about the person’s identity within society, which

would extend even beyond death.

The funerary practices used in Cherchen make it very clear that the Cherchen

people were not only familiar with the deterioration of the body after death, but they

intentionally took measures to slow the decomposition process in addition to maintaining

the form of the bodies in a very particular way. As seen throughout the Cherchen and

Subeshi Cemeteries, the majority of the bodies were laid out in the same position, lying

on their backs with their knees bent and their hands placed over their stomachs. In Tomb

A, the people burying the bodies maintained a consistent body position by propping up

the figure with small pieces of wood and used the red and blue cords to keep the right

hand above the left. The Cherchen people were also aware of the swelling of the tongue

after death and tied maroon straps around the head to keep the jaw in place. They also

coated the bodies with an animal protein in order to preserve the skin. All of these actions

indicate that the members of the Cherchen society were very concerned with preserving

the bodies in a recognizable pattern, and their choice of textiles further is an integral part

of their funerary traditions.

Color was consistently used to group people together. Just as sports fans wear

specific colors to show allegiance to one team over another, so did the people in Tomb A

use maroon to indicate they were associated with one another. Beyond just using a small

amount of burgundy in decoration or detail, these bodies were completely bedecked in

the same shade of maroon. Not only does the color link them together, but because that

51

particular shade of burgundy required more dye than most other colors, it indicates that

they were all of a higher status since they could afford the more expensive color.

Furthermore, the consistent pairing of blue with red, as seen in the cords wrapped around

their wrists, exhibits another pattern that would be easily recognized just from observing

the figures. Because the cords were used not only to maintain a consistent position of the

right hand above the left but also paired blue with red, the cords demonstrate that all of

the people found with this textile were of the same cultural tradition. The combination of

blue with red was expanded into other textiles, such as the infant’s hat in Tomb A-2, the

blue and red shawl in Tomb A, and the banded textiles in Tomb C. By creating a

precedent of associating the two colors together, the combination of red and blue

becomes another visual indicator of Cherchen group.

Yet within those groups created by color, the Cherchen people used construction

methods and weaving practices to create levels of status between individuals within the

group. This type of distinction can be seen when comparing the Cherchen Man’s robe to

the Cherchen Woman’s dress. The Cherchen Woman’s dress consistently uses more

complex methods and higher quality materials. The fabric of her dress has a higher gloss

and softer feel because of the mohair or crude silk incorporated into the woolen thread,

which was then woven in the long-hop twill to create a denser, more complex fabric. Not

only does the combination of these two factors create higher quality fabric, but the dress

also uses more fabric than the Cherchen Man’s robe. The Cherchen Woman’s robe would

have been able to function just as well if it were made out of undyed wool in a plain

weave and cut off at the knees, but the dressmakers decided to add a large flowing skirt to

the bottom of the garment. By incorporating the additional fabric, the dress is more

52

valuable and indicates a higher status owner. Such indicators between high and low status

can be found on garments that are not worn, such as the brown overcoat. The coat also

uses the long-hop twill and incorporates red decoration along the cuffs and the bottom of

the coat, once again making the choice to include more complicated techniques that

served no practical function. Whoever wore the coat would have been able to

demonstrate his or her status by being able to possess the more valuable textile.

Other garments found in Cherchen were unquestionably luxury items and were

designed so that they could be immediately observed as such. Any large amount of blue

dye was an immediate indicator of a valuable garment. The use of indigo as a high

quality material was particularly evident in the case of the elaborate chemise from Tomb

D, which used blue throughout the main body of the textile. The chemise also utilized

advanced weaving techniques as seen in the tapestry weave found along the decorative

borders as well as the complex construction in the creation of the collar. The decision to

include such elements in no way increases the functional aspects of the garment but is

solely based on making the most valuable aspects of the textile visible to anyone

observing the wearer. The same could be said of the multitude of hats located in Tomb A

or the massive “witch” hats found in Subeshi. Wearing a large, decorative hat was an

easily observable way to demonstrate a higher status. Particularly in the case of the

“witch” hats, these garments would have been impossible to wear in any kind of practical

setting and yet the Subeshi people took great care to include these hats in their burials.

Therefore, the hats were an inseparable part of the woman’s identity that must

accompany her even beyond death.

53

The identity reflected in these garments may be related to the mummies’

Caucasoid background. Especially in the Cherchen burials, some of the funerary

traditions seem to be emphasizing their physical appearance, such as the placement of the

blue or green stones over the eyes of the infants. Both blue and green are difficult colors

to find in rocks and it is highly unlikely that they were chosen at random. Furthermore,

almost all of the hair that had been woven into braids had some kind of red wool used

either to tie off the ends or was woven into the hair itself, possibly alluding to the reddish

tones of the hair color. The physical features of blue or green eyes and reddish hair would

have distinguished these people from any Mongoloid contemporaries. In addition, almost

all of the bodies in both the Cherchen and Subeshi Cemeteries had their heads oriented

towards the west or northwest. In most funerary traditions, bodies are typically oriented

towards some kind of spiritual center or place of long-standing importance. By orienting

themselves towards the west or northwest, they may be indicating some kind of

connection to an ancient Caucasus heritage.

The use of twill would also strongly suggest an Indo-European connection. Twill

was not a type of Chinese weave and would not be used in China until the 1st millennium

AD.117 The earliest examples of twill are originally believed to have come from the area

between the Caucasus and Turkey between the 4th and 3rd millennium BCE. 118The twill

weave became even more popular during the 2nd millennium BCE, as can be seen with

the fragments of twill plaid found in the Halstatt salt mines in Austria. The salt in the

mines, much like the high salinity in the soil of the Tarim Basin, prevented bacteria from

deteriorating the cloth while preserving the colors. The earliest eastern examples of twill

117MalloryandMair,218.118MalloryandMair,218.

54

plaid are actually found in the Tarim Basin at the site of Qizilchoqa, which is dated

around the same time as Cherchen.119 The style of plaid found in Qizilchoqa is nearly

identical to the plaids found in Halstatt, employing the same weight of cloth, color

scheme, width and pattern of striping.120 Such precise details would have been almost

impossible to recreate by accident and it would appear that the people in the Tarim Basin

must have had some relation to the weavers in the Caucasus region.

The use of red trim is another trait that has an Indo-European background. Bright

red piping or decoration was often found on both Cherchen and Subeshi garments, along

the collars, sleeves and seams as well as wrapped around other grave goods such as

bunches of reeds and spindles. The tradition of putting red around the openings of the

garment is once again an Indo-European tradition, still found in traditional Slavic

cultures. They believed that the color of bright red, or blood red, represented life and had

powerful abilities to ward off sickness and foul spirits. The color functions as a type of

protection for the wearer, to keep them healthy and prolong their life. Red takes on a

semiotic function: by wearing the color, the wearer demonstrates an understanding of the

significance of the color and is familiar with its power.

Whether or not the Caucasoid people found in the Tarim Basin are directly related

to the Indo-Europeans is not certain, but there are definite connections between the two

groups. Both the twill weave and the use of red trim show evidence of Indo-European

traditions that would not have otherwise been found in the region of the Tarim Basin or

from the traditions of Mongoloid people. Particularly in the evidence of the tartan

patterns, the weave pattern was too specific to have been reproduced by accident. Just as

119MalloryandMair,218.120MalloryandMair,218‐219.

55

the Subeshi people chose to continue some traditions of Cherchen exactly and adapt

others, so did the Caucasoid people of the Tarim Basin carry on the cultural elements of

their older Indo-European ancestors.

Regardless of whether the people in Tarim Basin were Indo-European or not, both

the people in Cherchen as well as Subeshi developed a sophisticated language of textiles

that was evocative of their community. Their color choices, construction techniques and

weaving methods were all tools they used to reflect the identity of the people who wore

these garments. Time and time again, they deliberately chose to include the more

complex and more time-consuming approaches in order to elevate a plain textile into an

intricate garment. Through their clothing, the Cherchen people were able to capture a

piece of themselves and carry it on past the limits of death.

56

Table 1

Name OfficialName Location ContentsTombA Tomb85QZM2 Cherchen ‐4Bodies:OneMan

andthreewomeninmaroonrobesandwhiteboots‐TenHats

TombA‐2 Tomb85QM1 Cherchen ‐Babyinabluefeltcapandmaroonshawlandbluestonesplacedonhiseyes.

TombB Tomb89QZM2 Cherchen ‐InfantwithGreenStonesontheeyesandamutilatedyoungwoman‐Oneyearoldchild‐Olderwomanwithtattooedhands

TombC Unknown Cherchen(disturbedbygrave‐robbers)

‐Variousbandedtextiles

TombD Unknown Cherchen(disturbedbygrave‐robbers)

‐TurquoiseChemise‐ThreepiecesofTapestry‐Sheepbrocade‐Widebandedskirt‐Maroonshredwithredpiping‐Lightdarkredfabricwithbrightredstripes.‐Darkreddomehat

TombE Unknown‐excavatedin1991‐2byLuEnguothroughthe

XinjiangInstituteofArchaeology.

Subeshi(Ransackedbygrave‐robbersafterexcavation)

Womenwithlargeconicalblackhats,stripedskirtandmittenedhand.

57

Image1­CherchenMan

Image3­CherchenMan'sHands

Image2­CherchenWoman

Image4­CherchenWoman'sHands

58

Image5­DecomposedWoman1 Image6­DecomposedWoman2

Image8­CherchenOldWomanTombB

Image7­OlderCherchenWoman'sHandTombB

59

Image11­CherchenBandedTextile

Image10­CherchenHat

Image12­CherchenChemise

Image13­SubeshiWoman

Image9­BabyfromTombA­2

60

Image16­SubeshiManwithLeatherTalisman

Image14­SubeshiWomanwithHat

Image15­SubeshiSaddle

61

IllustrationI

62

IllustrationII

IllustrationIII

63

WeavingPatterns

IllustrationVI­Long­hopTwill

IllustrationIV­TabbyorPlainWeave

IllustrationV­TwillWeave

IllustrationVII­KumihimoMethod

64

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